US president Donald Trump has said the US is “low-keying it” with Iran as talks to end their war and reopen shipping through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to have stalled
“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” he told Axios.Iran has set out a series of demands that it says the US must meet before it will sign off on a deal with Oman to partially open up the Strait, including the payment of compensation for war damages
The head of Iran’s supreme national security council, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, said the Strait will remain shut until the US meet six conditions, including ending the war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq forever
It comes as the US is pushing for defence companies to“dramatically” accelerate weapons production as the Iran war drains through their missile supplies
Deputy defence secretary Steve Feinberg gave companies three weeks to lay out how they would “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities.”
“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” Mr Feinberg added in a memo obtained by The Washington Post
“We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”
Yemeni military says Houthi attack on Mocha kills 7, wounds 30
The Yemeni military said seven people, including military personnel and civilians, were killed and 30 others wounded in a Houthi attack on the Red Sea port city of Mocha
“Four members of the armed forces and three civilians have been killed, and 30 others injured,” the Yemeni military said in a statement early on Monday. Air defences intercepted and shot down 11 Houthi drones that participated in the attack, the military said
Footage shown by Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV showed the launch of several ballistic missiles and drones, which Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a post on Telegram targeted Saudi troop concentrations and weapons depots
The Yemeni military said the Houthi attacks had also targeted residential neighbourhoods in Mocha
Namita Singh10 August 2026 06:17
Iran replaces top security chief as Tehran denies direct US talks on ending war
Iran has appointed a senior commander from its powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as its new top security official, in a major reshuffle that comes as Tehran denies holding direct negotiations with Washington to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz
Mohsen Rezaei, previously an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, will take over as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, a spokesperson for president Masoud Pezeshkian said late on Sunday
He replaces Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who resigned from the post and will now serve as a political adviser to Khamenei
Zolghadr had held the role since March, when his predecessor, Ali Larijani, was killed in an Israeli air strike
The change at the heart of Iran’s security establishment comes amid competing accounts over efforts to bring the conflict to an end
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was not engaged in direct talks with the United States over ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, despite US officials claiming that the two sides were close to reaching an agreement
Namita Singh10 August 2026 06:08
Israel and Hamas disagree over timings in Trump’s plan
Donald Trump announced last month that there had been a breakthrough in his plan to end the war, to which both Israel and Hamas agreed, with Israeli forces withdrawing as Hamas disarms and an International Stabilisation Force working with a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave
But complications have swiftly emerged with questions over the plan’s timeline.”Israel does not accept the 15-point document,” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of a meeting with cabinet ministers
The military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed … it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry”, he said. Netanyahu made similar remarks in a social media post on Tuesday and Israeli officials have said reservations have been shared with Washington
He added that Israel was in talks with the United States on the plan. “They (the US) have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable to us and we know how to stand firm against these things,” Netanyahu said
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters on Sunday that the group remained committed to the roadmap agreed in Cairo 10 days ago
“We expect the mediators and the US guarantor to press Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons,” he said
Namita Singh10 August 2026 05:30
Netanyahu says Trump’s new Gaza plan is unacceptable
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his rejection of Donald Trump’s latest Gaza plan in televised remarks to his right-wing government on Sunday, even as Israel’s military has effectively halted attacks in the territory under pressure from the US president
Netanyahu is struggling in the polls as he seeks re-election at a vote due on 27 October but is caught between far-right ministers angered by concessions in Gaza and his key military backer, Trump, who wants progress toward ending the conflict there with a new 15-point roadmap. Israel has scaled back attacks in Gaza since Monday, when Nikolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy for Trump’s Board of Peace that oversees the ceasefire, met with Netanyahu
Amilitary would only act against what it perceives as immediate threats in Gaza and no longer carry out targeted assassinations as it had been doing on a near-daily basis. Mladenov said on Sunday that discussions on the new roadmap were ongoing
Namita Singh10 August 2026 04:45
Houthis attack Saudi refinery
Iranian strikes on Strait of Hormuz shipping have been coupled with increased attacks by its Yemen-based allies, the Houthi rebels, who have targeted ships at another oil chokepoint on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
The Houthis also declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month in response to what they said was a Saudi siege on them in Yemen, an allegation denied by Riyadh, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government
The Yemeni rebel group said they had attacked Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery on Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Sunni Muslim allies Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability from the US-Israeli war on Shi’ite Iran
The Saudi energy ministry said a fire had broken out at the refinery but was later extinguished with no injuries and authorities were dealing with the incident, without giving a cause
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said the new alliance was not directed against Iran or any other country, but rather served as a general pledge to support security
Namita Singh10 August 2026 04:32
US ‘low-keying’ talks with Iran
US president Donald Trump said in an interview with Axios that the US was “low-keying” it with Iran
“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”
Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in June, but the US reimposed a blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf in July, a move that Tehran said violated the truce, which by then had already broken down
“Once the deal is announced to restore commercial shipping without impediments, the United States will lift the blockade of Iranian ports,” a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity
Namita Singh10 August 2026 04:15
Fallout from war in Iran is leaving millions vulnerable to hunger
As the US, Iran and Oman edge towards an interim agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, months of insecurity and disruption are leaving millions more vulnerable to hunger in Yemen
The economic fallout from the regional conflict has driven up food and fuel prices, while more than four months of conflict with Iran has driven renewed escalation in Yemen, compounding one of the world‘s worst humanitarian crises
More than half the population were already facing hunger, but slow progress from world leaders to re-open the Strait has caused months of disruption to global food and energy supplies, disrupting humanitarian aid operations
Fallout from war in Iran is leaving millions vulnerable to hunger
In Yemen, disruption of supplies through the Strait of Hormuz is compounding one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises
Maryam Zakir-Hussain10 August 2026 04:00
Iran says Oman deal on strait is near but sets US conditions
Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the US must meet other conditions, including compensation and an end to sanctions and military threats, before the strategic waterway is reopened
A US official told Reuters on Friday that Iran and Oman were close to a deal that could pave the way for restoring safe passage through the strait, a major conduit for oil and gas shipping before Iran blocked Hormuz in response to US and Israeli attacks on Tehran that began in late February
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday an agreement with Oman on the strait was in its “final stages” but reiterated comments made on Saturday that Tehran would not reopen the channel unless the US met certain demands made by Tehran
Mr Araqchi said reopening the strait would depend in part on the US paying compensation for damage it caused in widespread attacks on Iran
The secretary of Iran’s top national security body, Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, also listed ending further US threats against Iran; halting aggression toward Iran and its Lebanese, Palestinian, Yemeni and Iraqi allies; removing a US naval blockade in the Gulf; lifting sanctions on Iran; and releasing frozen Iranian assets
Namita Singh10 August 2026 03:52
‘We’re low-keying it on Iran’, says Trump
Donald Trump told Axios on Sunday that he’s “low-keying it” on Iran with talks to end the war still on ice
The US president signalled that he preferred to allow <a href="https://todaytrendnews7.com/live-updates-trump-emphasizes-economic-pressure-on-iran-over-negotiations/" title="Live updates: Trump emphasizes economic pressure on Iran over negotiations”>economic pressure on Iran to mount, as opposed to ordering a new military offensive, with both sides still held at an impasse
Iran, aware of the impact of delaying the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, has indicated it is also willing to maintain the status quo until the US concedes to its demands
“We’re only semi-negotiating with them. We’re just watching Iran with its huge inflation & the fact they have no money,” Trump told Axios, adding: “It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game.”
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi earlier ruled out a resumption of negotiations with the US until Washington ends its violations of the so-called memorandum of understanding to end the war
James Reynolds10 August 2026 03:00
Trump foe vows he’s ‘prepared to support a bad deal’ to end war in Iran
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy tore into Donald Trump’s ongoing inability to reach an agreement to permanently end the war with Iran on Sunday and said that it was increasingly obvious that Trump would be forced to take a “bad” deal to extract the U.S. from the conflict
But Murphy, speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, told host Kristen Welker that he’d support any effort to end the war at this point — even a “terrible-bad deal” — as traffic continues to be heavily restricted through the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. has so far been unable to pressure Iran to accept any deal reopening the strait and addressing its nuclear program
Trump foe vows he’s ‘prepared to support a bad deal’ to end war in Iran
Comments come as Wall Street Journal reports the president is privately considering abandoning nuclear goals
James Reynolds10 August 2026 02:00
